Process of treating fruit to preserve the same in transit to market



Patented 15, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT: OFFICE REX DE ORE MGIDILL; OF E, ASSIGN'OB TO FOOD MACHINERY CUBIPORATIOR', OF SAN JOSE CLLH'ORNIL, A. CORPORATION 01 DELAWARE raocnss or ramrme raur'r r raasmva rmi sum m amen 'ro mum No Drawing.

Heretofore, fruit, such ascitrus fruit, has

been coatedwith various waxes or wax-like covering material for the purpose of retarding the shrinkage of the fruit when it is passing to the market. These coverin of the fruit have been applied both with and without a treatment of the fruit with a material for preserving or disinfecting the fruit against mold decay Amongthe-materials temperature, to c employed have been solid paraflin Waxes. Solid paraffin wax is diificult to apply uniformly to the fruit with the desired thinness of coating unless there is used a volatile solvent to the fruit or unless the coating is heated.

Moreover, difiiculty is experienced in preventing application of too heavy a coating which has the eifect of completely smothering the fruit, inducing souringof the fruit or anaerobic fermentation.

Fruit covered with solid paraflin etroleum wax further has a tendencyxfort e wax to crack and peel, spoiling the appearance of the fruit at the market.

It has also been suggested to use heavy mineral oils refined until they are waterwhite and free of all coloring and unsaturated bodies as a coating material either with or without the addition of parafiin wax. The purpose of the use of oil 1s to obtain a material which is more readil applied to the fruit and which can be, a p ied 1n athinner covering and which has ess tendency as a coating ,0 crack and injure the appearance ofthe fruit. Oil alone is not sufliciently solidor viscous to satisfactorily cover fruit and it is enerally found advisable to employ Elfiflfil therewith. In practice it is found owever, that paraflin tends with chan 0 attain d. 7

Furthermore, when wax or oil coverings are applied to citrus fruit in conjunction with the treatment of the citrus fruit with the mastallize from the 01 anda completely satisfactory covering is not Application filed January 11, 1930. Serial No. 420,298.

.terial designed for liberating chlorine as an agent for retarding the development of mold, the wax or oil has the efi'ect of immediately upon its application to e ect of the chlorine iberating material. Mineral oil and parafiin wax with chlorine immediately form a chlorinated paraffincompound, thus preventing any effective action of the chlorine upon mold spores which may be resent.

t is the vention to provide a process of treating fruit by" which ruit may have applied thereto a covering of the desired consistency which will remaln with the fruit durin marketing of the fruit and towards crysta ization or so aration from revent any further.

general object of the present ina is free 0 any tendency the fruit, and which wll noteave a notice- 7 able deposit upon the fruit.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process of treatin fruit by which a covering of the desired thic ess may be attained wit out the necessity of employin either heat or volatile solvents.

t is a further object of the present invention to provide a process of treating fruit which willproduce a covering to the fruit which is saturated, in so-far as its tendenc towards absorption of chlorine is concerne so that the covering material will not have the effect of interfering with action of chlorine liberat-in agents in inhibiting the growth of mol 5 on the fruit. i

This-invention com rehends that when troleum wax or para-lhn wax is treatedwith chlorine, a chlorinated paraflin compound is produced which compound .has a consistency somewhat between thatof oil andsolid possessing a melting point around about citrus fruit is dry and when the citrus fruit is wet either with water or solutions of mold inhibiting agents. When applied to citrus fruit it forms a very fine film upon the citrus fruit and is adequate and effective in preventing shrinkage without however smothering the fruit or producing anaerobic decay. It also permits the citrus fruit to be very highly polished and exhibiting an attractive appearance to the fruit.

The process will be most readily understood from a description of the preferred form or example of a process embodying the invention. For this purpose I have hereafter described a referred form or example of a process embodying the present invention.

In the preferred process I take citrus fruit such as is obtained from the grove and Wash the fruit in any desired manner, with or without the use of soap, washing powders, or alkalis and with or without the simultaneous application of a mold inhibiting agent. The citrus fruit may then be introduced into a main treating tank wherein it is subjected to the action of an aqueous solution of a mold inhibiting agent either heated or. cooled, depending upon whether the inhibiting agent requires a hot or cold solution. For example, I may use a solution of sodium hypochlorite containing the usual bicarbonate for stabilizing the same, in which case the solution is cold when the fruit is treated. After the applica tion of the solution of the mold inhibiting agent, the fruit is then preferably sprinkled with water for removing the solution in order that it will not disintegrate the brushes which apply the coating composition. In other cases, however, it may be desired to leave the solution on the fruit solthat it in part will remain with the fruit during marketing of the fruit. In any case, the fruit wet either with the rinsing water or with the solution of the mold inhibiting agent, is then passed on tobrushes whereat the chlorinated hydrocarbons or waxes are applied to the fruit to form a coating for retarding shrinkage.

As an example of a suitable chlorinated hydrocarbon or wax for use with the present invention. I have taken paraffin wax such as has a melting point of 145 F., and passed chlorine through the same until a product of the desired melting point or consistency is attained. In the treatment the wax is heated preferably between 120 and 140 C. to speed up the absorption of the chlorine. To

secure complete chlorination, the weight of the wax must be increased about 40 to and complete chlorination will produce a prloduct about the consistency of a very heavy or The completely chlorinated, wax is known as chlorco'sane. Whenless than complete chlorination is used the resulting material is a solution of paraffin wax and chlorcosane.

I prefer, however, to utilize only a partially chlorinated product, for example, using a material which is produced by passing chlorine through the wax until the weight has increased only 25%. The process may be varied to produce various consistencies of the covering material as desired, and I prefer for example, to use a product containing less chlorine and harder in the summer-time than I employ in the winter-time. It is a marked advantage of the process of the present invention of the ease with which the melting point and consistency of the covering may be varied as the requirements of the different seasons make desirable.

The chlorinated paratfin or wax is spread uniformly over the fruit by brushes of any usual or desired type. The chlorinated hydrocarbons may be fed to the brushes in any desired way, for example, they may be squeezed onto the brushes from some pressure feeding device or the brushes may be caused to pass through a supply of the chlorinated hydrocarbons on one side and apply the material to the fruit on the other, or the chlorinated hydrocarbons may be sprayed on the brushes or fruit.

As a final operation, the brushing of the fruit in the presence of the chlorinated, waxing material is continued until a polished fruit is attained. This operation may or may not take place simultaneously with the application of heat for drying the fruit.

The process of the present invention produces a fruit coated so as to retard shrinkage in transit and the coating may be of any desired consistency and is entirely homogeneous. During the use of the coating there is no tendency of the different constituents to settle or for the coating to crystallize and appear white on the fruit or to peel from the fruit.

While the particular process herein described is well adapted for carrying out the objects of the present invention, it is to-be understood that various modifications and changes may be made all without departing from the principles of the invention, and this invention includes all such modifications and changes as come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A process of treating fruit for preventing shrinkage in transit to the market which consists in covering said fruit with chlorinated waxes.

2. A process of treating fruit for preventing shrinkage of the fruit in transit to the market which consists in covering the fruit with a thin film of a homogeneous solution of paraflin Wax and chlorcosane.

3. A process of treating fruit to prevent shrinkage of fruit in transit to the market which consists in passing the fruit over brushes and simultaneously applying chlorinated waxes, whereby the chlorinated shrinkage of the fruit in transit to the market which comprises, applying a film of a chlorinated wax to the exterior of the fruit while the fruit is wet.

6. A process of treating fruit to retard shrinkage of the fruit in transit to the market which comprises, drocarbons over the fruit while the fruit is wet.

7. A process of treating fruit to retard I shrinkage of the fruitin transit to the market which comprises, applying a film coating including chlorcosane to the exterior of the fruit by rubbing the fruit, while-wet, with a coating material includin chlorcosane.

8. A process of treating ruit for preserving the fruit in transit to the market which comprises, applying a solution of a mold inhibiting agent to' the fruit and then while the fruit is still wet with said solution applying a film of a coating cosane to the fruit.

9. A process of preserving fruit in transit to market which comprises, treating the fruit with a mold inhibiting solution and chlorine liberating agent, and thereafter covering the material including chlorfruit with a shrinkage retarding coating in- "cludin chlorcosane.

10. process of reserving fruit in transit to the market w ich comprises, treating the fruit with a solution of a mold inhibit ing agent, liberating chlorine, and then while the fruit is still wet with said solution oovering the fruit with a shrinkage retarding film of a coating material inclu y of J anuar 1930.

y 'DE ORE MoDILL.

brushing chlorinated hy-- ing chlorcosane. Si ed at Los Angeles, California, this m1 5; 

